Weekly Recap: 7/14-7/20

Last week was a very challenging one for me and I ended up feeling really tired come Monday. I planned to tone down the pace on a couple of my runs so that I felt ready take on my long 20 mile run. I wanted to make sure that I had gas in the tank to finish my run strong.

Monday: I was pretty tired Monday morning so I decided to take a complete rest day. I did zero running and zero strength training. I pretty much came home from work, ate dinner and laid on my bed and watched TV. I really needed it and I am glad I allowed myself to take a little break.

Tuesday: 7 Mile Tempo Run@7:59 avg. pace

Wednesday: 5 Miles Easy@9:31/This run almost didn't happen because I was feeling really tired when I got home from work. I had an easy 5 on the schedule so I figured I would just do it even it was not a great one. In the end I was glad I stuck with the plan and got it done.

Thursday: Rest Day with strength training and meet by met my plank goal of 5 minutes! I think I am going to keep going to see how much longer I can hold one. I am sure it won't get much better because I shake pretty bad in the end.

Friday: 20.07 Miles@8:53 avg pace/I ran Miles 1-7@MGP plus 30-60 seconds and Miles 8-20 @MGP plus 15-30 seconds. I actually felt good throughout this entire run but I am sure that the 63 degree weather played a big role in it!

Saturday: Rest Day with strength training with the focus on my arms and core. My legs felt great coming off of the 20 miles so I wanted to rest them. I was tired and took a three hour afternoon nap which I never do. It felt kind of nice!

Sunday: 6.03 Miles@9:32 avg pace/Ran the first 5 miles with my other half and the last mile alone. I also did my squats since today will be a rest day from running.

Total Miles: 38.10

Week three of the Summer Run Challenge complete and I hit my goal for the week.  I am at 110 miles for the month of July which is really close to my goal of 150 miles! Ventura is just seven weeks away and before you know it, it will be race day! I am looking forward to my birthday race and hoping for good weather.

How was your week? Did you run any races?

Weekly Recap: June 30-July 6

Training for a marathon during the summer months is pretty painful. In my case, I may not even run the September marathon that I am putting all of this training into. I am working on a back-up plan in case my birthday race turns out to be just a half marathon. I am looking at an October marathon but I am just ironing out all of the details and then I will share which race I decide to run. 

This week was a lot better than last week and I have been taking good care of my right heel that tried to give me problems last week. I don't have pain when I  run but I do feel it when I am on my feet for a long time or I walk a lot. In any case, I am still running but if it becomes painful to run then that I will not run through the pain.

In spite of missing my long run last week, June was still a decent month for me. It was not my best month but 131 miles is a good month for me since I am not a high mileage runner.

Here is a recap of my week:

Monday: Rest Day from running with strength training.

Tuesday: 7 Mile Tempo Run/Avg Pace 8:00. I really need these runs since I backed off of the speedwork. I think I might try to do speedwork every other week and see if that works for me.

Wednesday: 5 Miles Easy@8:54 pace

Thursday:  Rest Day from running with strength training which included a 3:30 plank.

Friday: 5 Miles@9:10 pace/This run was pretty brutal. It was 80 degrees and I just wanted to die out there....end of story! My niece is in town visiting from South Carolina so we spent Independence Day with her. The kids had a blast swimming, eating and watching fireworks.

Saturday: Rest Day from running with strength training. I upgraded from a 10 pound medicine ball to a 12 pound medicine ball. I kind of love that thing since I don't like to lift weights at the gym. It is not always possible for me to be at the gym everyday since I have other obligations at home so it works for me! I also made it to 4:00 minutes with my plank! I am hoping to be able to do a 5 minute plank by the end of the month.

Sunday: 15 Miles@8:48 pace/This was a tough run because it was already 70 degrees at 6:00 am. I am not sure how I survived it but I had to get it done! Thank God for those sprinklers because I was running out of gas going up that hill!

Total Miles: 32 

In other news, I signed up for the Summer Run Challenge with Run With Jess. I participated in her Winter Miles Challenge and it really kept me accountable but I know the summer miles are going to be a lot tougher due to the heat. I met my goal for the first week of the challenge so I am excited about that. I am hoping that next week is even better since we are going to get a small break from the heat until the weekend.

Anyone else participating in the Summer Run Challenge with Run with Jess?

How do you survive running in the heat during the summer months?

A Week of Workouts and a DNS

The weeks are flying by so fast and summer is in full effect. We kind of had a small break this week from the 90 degree heat but it is going to be back next week. My long runs take some strategic planning when it come to this heat.

This past Saturday I was supposed run the Zooma Napa Valley Half Marathon. The bad news is that I did not make it to the race. When I stepped out of bed on Friday morning, I had the worst pain in my right heel. I could hardly walk on it. I have dealt with a minor case of plantar fasciitis in the past so I know what to do. I decided that I did not want to take the six hour drive and spend $400 on my hotel if I was not going to be able to run the race. It was a difficult decision but I know that I would have felt even worse if pain kept me from finishing the race. I think I prefer a DNS over a DNF!

I had to change my running plans around at the end of the week due to the heel pain. In other words, I missed my long run this week because I didn't want to push it. I was pretty bummed since it kind of killed my mileage for June.

Monday: Rest Day with strength training. I keep these things right by my bed so they are right there when I need to get up and do them. I am really enjoying the medicine ball!

Tuesday: 7.32 Miles@ 8:12/I had a really busy week at work and did not get home from work until almost 11:00 pm on Tuesday. I still made time for my run but I was exhausted by the time I finally got home.  I am very lucky to have the job that I have so I cannot complain.

Wednesday: Rest Day with strength training. I can hold a plank for over three minutes now so I am kind of proud of myself because it's progress. I would really like to get to five minutes one day!

Thursday: 6.02 Miles@9:08/I was not in the mood for the treadmill so I took my chances and ran in the 80 degree heat. It was slow, painful and ugly (9:40, 9:14, 9:12, 9:11, 9:06, 8:26.) I know that every run cannot be a good run so I pushed through it and got it done.

Friday:Rest Day with strength training. 

Saturday: 7.10 Mile Progressive Run @8:39 avg/The weather was perfect and I wanted to test out my foot to see if my heel would hurt while I ran and it did not. Thank God! I started out easy and then picked it up the last few miles. I have been rolling my foot with a frozen water bottle and tennis ball to get it under control. I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

Sunday: 5 Miles Easy@ 8:56/After my run we headed out on a road trip to Las Vegas. My son was pretty bummed that he did not get to go to San Francisco as part of our trip so we made a quick trip to Las Vegas and he was good with that. I will post some pictures of our trip when we return.

Total Miles: 25.44 (Pretty low mileage week, but low miles is better than no miles.)

Have you ever dealt with plantar fasciitis?  Any advice?